TTC installing gates to block drivers from entering the Queens Quay tunnel

Thestar.com
July 26, 2018
Clare Rayment

The TTC is following through on a plan to install gates meant to permanently prevent drivers from entering the Queens Quay streetcar tunnel.

The TTC started installing the gates Tuesday night and should be finished by Friday, said agency spokesperson Stuart Green.

The TTC is installing gates to stop cars, like this SUV from a December 2017 file photo, from entering the Queens Quay tunnel.

The Queens Quay tunnel, which connects the 509 Harbourfront and 510 Spadina streetcar routes to Union Station, has been a notorious magnet for wayward drivers since it opened. The TTC recorded more than 25 incidents of cars entering the tunnel between 2014 and March of this year -- when spokesperson Brad Ross announced it would install gates, tweeting, “Enough.”

A car entering the tunnel can halt streetcar service for hours, and require a costly extraction.

Two gates will be placed at the tunnel’s openings, with only authorized vehicles able to open them, Green said, adding that streetcars will be fitted with transponders.

The gates are each about three metres long and will take about three seconds to open. They will be fitted with reflective strips and LED lights for cars who may make a wrong turn in the night hours.

The TTC has tried several measures to dissuade drivers, including in April 2017 adding lights, warning signs and rumbles strips.

The TTC’s latest effort came in April , when it installed six yellow-and-black-striped bollards near the intersection of Queens Quay and York St.

Green said no one has driven into the tunnel since bollards were installed.

“We committed to putting the gates in months and months ago,” Green said. “We were working with the City of Toronto to look at ways we might be able to better indicate to motorists that they shouldn’t be driving on the right-of-way or down the tunnel.”

The installation of the gates is budgeted to cost about $60,000, including the streetcar transponders.Green said there will be several weeks of testing to make sure the gates work properly with TTC streetcars.